Conflicted
by Illetheia
Summary: Cold is the only word to describe Aisha. She refuses to have any friends... since they are a "burden". Els x Ai. Rated T for gore later in the chapters.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

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She stood at the huge, closed, gates of the vacant school and looked up at the tilted school sign: **Ereda Academy**.

She exhaled impatiently, opened the dark gates, and walked into the school campus. Her cold eyes swept around; the piercing wind blew up some fallen leaves, making a rustling noise. Crows flew out of the trees, following the wind to somewhere far away.

It is quite eerie; the tall clock tower stood in the middle, the gigantic, dark, and thick numbers and ticks on the clock are intimidating. The school is old: the walls of the buildings have cracks in it, and huge chunks of paint and cement are gone, revealing the grey part of the walls. The arches of the wide hallways are exceedingly high, making the school seem like a famous relic. The handrails of the spiral stairs felt rough; small, rounded specks of cement bulged out of it, and the feeling of it is frequently interrupted by the cracks in it. And finally, the headmaster room's door. The dark brown wooden door is as high and wide as the arch of every hallway, with delicately carved totems on it.

She picked up the heavy, bronze ring on the door, and knocked twice firmly.

"Come in." A tired voice said from inside.

She pushed the thick wooden doors open, and walked straight into the dark room. The doors closed automatically behind her. Her footsteps echoed loudly and steadily in the huge room; not once had her pace changed. She reached the end of the room, and stood in front of the huge, messy desk that is full of papers. A person was sitting in front of the desk in a majestic chair with one of his hands propping his chin up and the other holding a pen, while the other person stood next to him.

The person put down his pen and his other hand. He was quite surprised when he saw who it is; he felt like all his fatigue is gone. He waited for a moment to see if she would speak; all she did was staring at him. All his hopes seemed to vanish into darkness suddenly, and his tiredness came back.

He asked wearily. "What is it that brings you here?"

"To get enrolled in here." She cut straight to the point, using as little words as she could.

The person sighed, disappointed. "Still as straight forward as ever, aren't you? You only came here for that reason?"

She stayed silent.

He laid back in his chair, crossed his fingers, looked at the floor, and fell into his thoughts.

"You know that I can't say no." He sighed again. "Even though you are well aware that you cannot enroll in here, you came to ask me because you know that I can't refuse you."

The person standing next to him shifted uneasily when he heard his words.

She stayed silent.

"Why do you want to come here this early? It's unsuitable for you. Especially when you need a…" His voice trailed off as he tried to think of an explanation instead of a word; a word to her is a word. It does not mean anything. "You need to be able to cooperate with someone, to be able to understand and _know_ the person to enroll in here and function in here, but you know you won't allow that."

She spoke slowly. "I have the person for that."

"A _person_?" He asked sharply, and narrowed his eyes. "I don't think so. I know you too well."

She stayed silent again, and he knew he will never get certain things out of her. When she doesn't want to reply, she stays silent. When she thinks that the comment is not worth replying to, she stays silent. When she thinks that … Oh, who knows when she will talk? She detests it. She is always concise.

"All I ask of you is to know _one_ person; it's not that hard, is it?" He lifted his eyes and looked at her with a sad smile.

She stared back at the smile as if it were nothing. She is starting to lose patience; all these emotional conversations are just a waste of time. "Yes, or no?"

He lowered his gaze and stared at his papers. After a few moments, he sighed, lifted his head, and looked at her again. "For the thousandth time, you know that I can't refuse you because you are my –"

Even though her face still remained impassive – she did not tighten the corners of her mouth, or narrow her eyes, or in _any_ way show that she is angered –, the atmosphere around her suddenly turned threatening and freezing cold.

_This is hopeless_, he thought desperately. _Nothing has changed. She hasn't, and I haven't._

His words turned bleak.

"Alright…"

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So what do you guys think?

I don't really know how long a chapter should be; I'm hoping this isn't too short nor too long! :O

This is just the very start so I guess it doesn't really say anything.. x.x


	2. Chapter 1 - Fooling the Precise

_**Chapter 1 – Fooling the Precise**_

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Long, light purple hair curled slightly at the ends and flowed naturally with the wind, elongating her short stature; icy, silvery violet gaze is always directed forward, the intensity of it made people lower their heads to avoid making eye contact with her; glistening, black uniform contrasted her white skin and highlighted her red lips, making her seem even more dangerous. All the students she encountered – not encountered, they were never even near her – scuttled away quickly.

After one full month, Aisha Elloia stepped into Ereda Academy again. The atmosphere is completely different from last time; it is cheerful and busy, with friends greeting and chatting with each other happily after a long summer break. Newly enrolled students darted from every direction to the testing area, in which students with the best compatibility are paired together as partners.

"Annoyance…" Aisha muttered. She hated the idea of "partners" and "friends" for millions of years, but since it is required, she has no choice but to oblige. She started to walk down to the testing area slowly. She, of course, is not willing to be partners with just anyone; she had long ago thought of an idea to escape the fate of being partners with someone else.

"Angkor, remember the plan." She coldly reminded the person accompanying her.

Even if friends want to be partners while they are quite fit for each other, if they aren't the best pair, they will be torn apart from each other. Aisha does not want this to happen; in fact, she _won't_. Her plan is perfect; besides, there is barely anyone who also studies magic of void.

Walking right beside her is a pale boy, a boy who is half a head taller than her; his streak black hair is blown backwards, and his dark eyes are shining with mischievousness. When he heard her comment, he couldn't help but to smirk lightly.

"Oh my~ I can't believe you're starting to _NEED_ me~ " The smirk turned into a wide grin.

Aisha ignored him and kept walking; she did not even slightly slow down in her tracks, or tilt her head, or in any way show that she hesitated to reply. To her, these comments are not worthy enough to be answered.

"Still being just as cold as you were, huh?" Angkor scoffed. "It's been 7 full years already… such stubbornness."

Unaffected by yet his other little comment, Aisha spotted one of the members helping to host the Compatibility Test. She walked up to him and stood in front of him.

The member soon noticed the little girl in front of him, and asked politely, "How can I help you?"

Aisha stared up at him with a stony face. "I suppose it is _quite obvious_ that I am here for the Compatibility Test."

He shrugged, as she practically stomped his politeness right under her feet. He held out one hand and pointed to a person with blue hair, who is rearranging crystal balls on the table in front of him. "Go to that person; he's the Elemental Pairing proctor, and he'll get you started."

Aisha whipped her head around and left without thanking him. She is starting to get impatient; she wanted to get done with this immediately. Angkor thanked him quickly, and caught up with her after that.

"Geez, even a demon bat like me knows the word 'etiquette'." He slightly shook his head, making fun of her.

Irked by Angkor's verbosity and playfulness – she knew that he thanked him only to tease her -, Aisha slightly increased her walking pace, and she got in front of the blue-haired person in no time.

The person handed out two Precise Elemental Indicator Crystal Balls, one for Aisha, the other for Angkor.

"Put your hand on the crystal ball; it'll show what your main elements are."

Everyone has an element inside his or her body. It is usually two, so people with one element are considered rare. Those with only one are more powerful than the people with two as they can master the element easier; however, there are also some rare cases in which a two-elemental person is stronger than a pure-elemental person.

The Elemental Pairing test pairs two people with the same elements together; it also pairs people with nearly the same elemental potential. This is where it gets hard to make Angkor her partner.

Aisha and Angkor has almost the same elemental potential since they previously signed a contract in which their powers fuse together to make both of them stronger; their elemental potential are both pretty strong. The problem does not lie there.

The problem is they do not have the same element.

The Precise Elemental Indicator Crystal Ball shows what element one has by getting a tiny bit of energy from one's hand. Even if a person only learned magic of fire while his own element is ice, the crystal ball will still show his element is ice despite of what he had learned.

Angkor's element is, of course, void, considering he _IS_ a demon bat.

Aisha, on the other hand, has no element inside of her.

She is the only person _EVER_ to have that. This makes her to be able to learn and be proficient in _any_ magic, which is a huge advantage. Even though she could learn anything, she chose to just concentrate and master magic of void starting when she was 8.

Thanks to only learning magic of void, Aisha is quite skilled in it. All she needs is Angkor's help to complete her goal. She eyed Angkor, who caught her signal.

Angkor casually leaned on the counter, blocking Aisha from the proctor's eyes. He then continued to muddle his hearing.

"So, how long have you..."

Aisha closed her eyes, and concentrated. She started to mumble an incantation, and in a split second, her whole body is engulfed in a dark aura; in the next second, her body sucks in all of the darkness – she converted all of her energy in her body into dark energy. She opened her eyes, and put her hand on the crystal ball. It turned black from the tips of her fingers, spreading like ink. The whole crystal ball turned into a dark and ominous color in a millisecond. Seeing the result, she relaxed and lifted her hand, changing her energy back to normal at the same time.

Mr. Blue hair stopped chatting with Angkor and raised one eyebrow in surprise when he saw that. The time in which the crystal ball turns color is determined by how powerful the element is; the richness of the color also indicates how strong the element is.

He examined the crystal ball skeptically. "This is my first time seeing someone with such a short element-indicating time... the color and feeling of the crystal ball is also ..." He shook his head with doubt.

Angkor muffled a laugh and whispered to Aisha. "So much for the 'precise' crystal ball."

Aisha stared at him icily; Angkor looked into her eyes for a few seconds, and pouted. "You're no fun."

Turning his head away from her, he put his hand on the crystal ball too. It turned black almost as fast as Aisha's; it's just a bit slower and has a less threatening shade to it.

Mr. Blue hair shook his head with disbelief, and repeated, "I have never seen that before… you two would be a really good pair." He took out a chart and a pen. "What are your names?"

"Aisha."

Mr. Blue hair raised his head from the chart. "Last name?"

"Just. Aisha." Aisha emphasized emotionlessly.

He looked at her one last time and resumed writing.

Angkor stood aside, amused. The proctor has absolutely no idea he just asked a forbidden question.

"And yours?" He nodded his head at Angkor.

"Just Angkor." He smiled sweetly at him, hinting him to not ask for his last name.

He shrugged and decided to let it go. After he is done writing on the chart, he said, "The next part will be Defensive Pairing."

He pointed to the hall behind their backs and continued, "Go through that hall, turn left at the end of it, and keep walking until you see a wide field. After that will be Offensive Pairing; you get there the same way as Defensive Pairing, but you turn right instead of left. You'll once again see a wide field. The last part of the test will be a spar with another pair of partners, which will take place in either field after all the students are done with the first three tests. Report back here after the Offensive Pairing so we can assign sparring groups."

Before they left, Aisha peeked at the chart: Aisha &amp; Angkor, 100% elemental compatibility. She felt contented with the result of the first matching test because it is the only test she'll have a problem on. Although she didn't notice it herself, her previous bad mood was gone; she walked to the entrance of the hall and marched through it with Angkor.

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**Reviews**:

_\- Sinojin:_ Yeup~! The female in prologue is Aisha. Also, there were three people in the room: Aisha, headmaster, and one mysterious person (he will be introduced). And yeah, the prologue didn't say much about anything.. but that will soon change! * ^ * /

_\- DigiDawg2: _Y- YOU THINK SO?! *IMMEDIATELY RELEASES 1ST CHAPTER*


	3. Chapter 2 - Explosively Defensive

_**Chapter 2 – Explosively Defensive**_

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Heading towards the light at the end of the hall, Aisha and Angkor soon saw the huge, grassy field; huge isn't the word to describe it... it is endless, without edges.

In the turf, there are smaller, round force fields, filled with twisted demons, ghosts, and the undead; the testing participants stand in the middle of it, fighting them off. Proctors stand outside of the force field, recording every single detail happening inside.

One of the supervisors spotted them and came over, leading them to a force field. They can see things more clearly now; in the transparent, light-blue sphere are a circle of rectangular holes near the see-through wall; monsters come out from the holes incessantly. In the middle of it is a circle with one third of the radius of the field marked by white chalk; from it arose a cylindrical force field, which the monsters bumped against it viciously, as if they knew two live people will emerge from it.

"What are your names?"

"Angkor and Aisha." Angkor replied, knowing Aisha would be too lazy to do so.

The person jotted down their names quickly.

"The rules for Defensive Pairing are the following: You will step into the magic circle when I tell you to do so," He pointed at the small, shining magic circle, which the symbols on it moved clockwise slowly. "You will be transported into the cylindrical force field. After that, I will immediately disable the force field, and the monsters will start to attack continuously for five minutes. You cannot step outside of the little white circle when defending yourselves; if you do, points will be deducted from your results. You will be graded on how well you cooperate with each other. You may go into the circle now."

Aisha and Angkor stepped into the transportation circle, and reappeared in the cylindrical force field. The diameter of the circle can only fit about three Aishas standing shoulder to shoulder; in other words, the space they are allowed to have is _VERY_ small... they can only take around two steps before they either bump into each other, or step outside of the circle.

Through the transparent force field, Aisha could see the monsters clearly... hollow eyes, gaping mouth, tilted head; some have a slimy liquid shining on their scaled bodies, some have punctured bodies with blood trickling down their sides, some have a green foam sprawling on them, some have...

She scoffed. _Low level demons._

Angkor grinned. "You shouldn't really think that... you no longer have me as a weapon; you have a normal staff. That means your attack power will greatly decrease... we're technically one instead of two."

She scorned at him. "I don't need you to remind me about that... even so, it's enough."

"We would still be at a huge disadvantage though even if it won't show until the spar. Two people against one isn't exactly ideal."

Aisha ignored him as the transparent wall started to dissipate. The monsters, realizing they can finally pass through the blocked place, started to rush at them.

"Binding Circle!"

Aisha cast a binding skill to disable the movement of the demons. Most of them were bumping into the wall repeatedly, and when it disappeared, they suddenly burst into the little circle. If Aisha didn't bind them, their sudden movements will leave Angkor and her flustered.

Angkor, seeing the demons suddenly stopped midway, seized this chance.

"Phantom Breath – Dark Hole!"

A bat appeared in front of him, opened its mouth, and started to suck in the monsters near them. Knowing the monsters cannot harm her now, Aisha quickly chanted an incantation and implemented a seal of knowledge on themselves, effectively boosting their magical damage.

A meteorite enveloped in flames plummeted beside Aisha, almost hitting her in the process. Subconsciously, she immediately put up a mana shield around her, and looked up.

"Hmph, this is unexpected..."

Wyverns flew in the air, targeting them with projectiles; they are out of the range of Phantom Breath – Dark Hole.

"Aging!"

Aisha summoned a chained orb, and with a twirl of her body and a flick of her staff, she threw it at the wyverns. Dodging the orb as they flew backwards, the wyverns inhaled a large amount of air, leaned their heads backwards, and prepared to spew another round of meteorites like a Gatling gun. However, the orb hit the ground and broke into a thousand pieces of rocks, and out came a dark beam of energy hitting upwards. The wyverns were struck and fell on the ground.

"Aisha, watch out!"

Surprised by Angkor's sudden outburst, Aisha looked at him, and saw him staring at the ground beneath her. She looked down, and found herself looking at the roots of a mutated vine. It wriggled rapidly and furiously, and Aisha knew she wouldn't have time to teleport away. _Dammit... this thing will definitely hit me outside of the circle if I don't dodge it. The best I can do is to let it hit me on the wrong place so I won't fly that far away._

Aisha braced herself as her eyes registered the sudden movement of the vine; she twisted her body just as it whipped out of the ground. To her surprise, it didn't hit her... she turned around and saw a petite bat biting the stem of the vine. It thrashed around vigorously, trying to shake the small bat off. Aisha finished the vine off by throwing some void balls, each of them exploded as they made contact with it.

The monsters are closing up on them since the Phantom Breath – Dark Hole disappeared already; they are pretty much cornered in the middle of the little circle. The demons kept slamming and squeezing each other, each rushing forward to get to them; their numbers are overflowing.

"Hey Aisha, do something! Phantom Breath – Dark Hole activation time is too slo-"

Angkor glanced at Aisha, and stopped mid-sentence abruptly. Aisha has her eyes half closed, and Angkor could feel that she is trying to borrow power from something.

After a second, she whispered.

"Death Field."

An image of a skeleton wearing a dark magenta cloak appeared, its white fingers holding a scythe. Death's eyes glowed a sickly purple, and before it disappeared, it cursed all the demons in its area. Time seemed to pause as all the movements of the demons slow down tremendously...

Then BOOM.

Explosions exploded on top of each other like fire crackers, sending the demons into the air again and again. For 7 full seconds, they were both immersed in a series of explosions... When it finally stopped, they saw nothing in the spherical force field except themselves.

A hand appeared from one of the holes, grasping the ground and trying to get on the ground; followed by that are other movements from the dark holes.

Angkor looked tentatively at the holes, but the cylindrical force field suddenly reactivated, and they were teleported back to the magic circle outside.

"Well done. The Binding Circle in the start was a really good skill to choose out of all skills; it stops the monsters that suddenly burst into the circle... a decent strategy. Angkor's timing on the Phantom Breath – Dark Hole was also great. Even though it sucks in everything in its range, its activation speed is a tad bit slow, making it ideal to cast when everything cannot move; there were also an over flowing amount of demons near you, which is perfect to use the skill to clear them up. Aisha grasped a really good time to cast a seal of knowledge... while casting it, the caster is very vulnerable; choosing the timing to cast it in the middle of the fight is hard. Angkor didn't put down his guard even when he's fighting another group of monsters. He stopped the vine from hitting Aisha out of the circle narrowly." He stopped. "In other words, you passed the Defensive Pairing Test as partners. I just like to be detailed about the happenings in the test. Next test is the Offensive Pairing Test, which I assume you already know where it is."

After the proctor left to guide another pair of people, Aisha and Angkor left, heading towards the hall where they first came from.

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**Note**:

Guys, I suck at describing battle scenes... enough said. ; v ;

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**Reviews**:

\- _toolazytologon_: Thanks! XD... InB4PlotTwist... /shot

\- _cuddlyzombie_: WOWWWW... ! YOU THOUGHT I COULDN'T WRITE ?! q v q In all seriousness though, my writing isn't that refined yet. XD


	4. Chapter 3 - Disastrously Offensive

_**Chapter 3 – Disastrously Offensive**_

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Annoyance.

Listening to Angkor muttering; watching him pace back and forth impatiently with the corner of her eye...

Why isn't his name Annoyance?

"Why are they so slow? It's been so long already..."

"Can you just shut up...?" Aisha snapped at him. "You've been muttering for who-in-Elrios-knows how long."

"It's been hours though!" Angkor whined.

Aisha glowered at him, and he stopped.

The sand, blown up from the sand dunes by the penetrating wind, scraped their faces ruthlessly. Aisha scouted the whole area countless of times; it was empty. No force fields, no monsters, and no proctors... there were just other pairings wandering around with them in the vacant region.

They have been waiting for almost 2 hours by now; students keep arriving in this sandy territory, but other than that, nothing else.

_They probably want every student to gather up in here..._ Aisha thought. _Maybe we're going to fight something difficult?_

She crossed her arms. _In this sandy and extremely windy place... it should be..._

Whispers around her interrupted her train of thoughts.

"Headmaster!"

"It's the headmaster..."

"What is he doing here?"

"Headmaster..."

Two men walked out of the hallway, dusty grey and blazing red... the proctors trailed behind them; the man with fiery eyes and hair and the proctors crowded to the right of the exit of the hallway instead of following the man with grey features. The charcoal colored robe he wore swished from side to side as he walked. He gradually stopped as the students flocked around him, trying to get as close as possible.

His ash colored eyes swept among the crowd; hundreds of eyes were looking at him attentively. Unaware of their stares, his eyes continue to wander... and finally found what he was searching for, far away from the students.

The silvery, amethyst orbs.

She was wary of him and did not want him to see her, which is why she stayed and did not move closer with the students. When their eyes locked... her whole body went stiff. She pressed her lips into a thin line, and glared menacingly back at him.

He noticed her hostility, and averted his gaze awkwardly. He cleared his throat, shook off the feelings of uneasiness and began to speak.

"This is the third test of the Compatibility Test." He announced loudly. "In this test, I will summon a boss-difficulty monster. However... considering there is a copious amount of participants, I will amplify its size, speed, durability, and attack power."

He paused for a second, making sure everyone understood it.

"The monster we will be summoning today is from Sander – the region _**barely**_ anyone has explored. I am sure that all of you have heard about the names, appearances, and residencies of the monsters there; I am also sure that none of you has any idea about their attack patterns, which makes it a perfect choice. After several meetings... our choice is "Steel Wing – Kelaino"."

_As I thought..._ Aisha smirked. _In this windy place, it's where Kelaino appears. _

"Do not worry about dying... even though you experience it, you will be revived at "The Fountain of Healing"; it is recommended to not die though... if you do, your score will be deducted. And now..." He took a deep breath. "I shall start summoning it. Please stay at least 20 feet away from me."

As the students backed away hurriedly, he started to chant. A summoning circle slowly weaved in front of him, and the lines and curves glowed dimly. Finally, the end of the line merged with the start of it, and a blinding golden light blasted.

When the light faded away, the headmaster was already among the group of proctors. A harpy as tall as a 2-floor building stood there, with its wings half folded. Hovering on its back are another pair of wings made of blades; it wore sharp shoulder knives and a helmet with horns protruding out of it. On the helmet is a magenta colored symbol.

A symbol of the demons.

Aisha's eyes narrowed when she saw it... a burning passion of hatred and disgust rose up her throat like bile.

"Aisha! Don't let your anger take over you!" Angkor elbowed her lightly, making her to come back to her senses. "You can't be in a mess emotionally... otherwise, you would just act rash. We should observe what attacks it has first."

"No." She gritted her teeth.

"Aisha!" Angkor protested.

"Angkor... I am completely rational now. Someone needs to strike first so it can show its attack moves. The people who attack her and react quickly to unfamiliar counterattacks will get bonus points."

"Hmph... fine." Angkor sighed reluctantly. "You do know this is almost a suicide mission?"

Aisha ignored him, and teleported near Kelaino... she is the first one to get close to it. It prowled slowly on the sandy ground, completely oblivious to Aisha.

"Dark Cloud!"

A poisonous cloud spread around Aisha's body; it expanded slowly... and slowly... and slowly. Before Kelaino noticed it, it was already enveloped in the poisonous gas.

"Hell Stone!"

Quickly moving in after the toxic cloud surrounded it, Aisha summoned a stone that absorbed the power of Hell. It spun quickly, damaging Kelaino quite decently. Dark cloud dealt continuous damage on it, preventing it from bouncing backwards as Hell Stone hits it. Completely drained of mana, Aisha started to smack it with her staff... but right before it hit, Kelaino suddenly disappeared.

Aisha, baffled by the sudden disappearance, looked around in search of it.

As sudden as Kelaino disappeared, someone grabbed her collar and pulled her backwards. Shocked, she saw Kelaino dive heavily at the place where she was standing... its steel claws dug a 3-feet hole in the ground, which was covered up instantaneously by the quick-moving sand.

"You should be glad I got here in time..." Angkor muttered quietly.

Aisha was about to retort, but she noticed Kelaino change its stance.

"Watch out... something's coming." She said in a low voice.

As expected, nine blades fell down one by one vertically in front of them; they backed away hastily, and finally decided to dodge to the left side.

"It's moving too fast... we need to slow it down."

"I don't have enough mana for Aging... besides, its effect is too brief..."

"Let's just try first." Angkor moved in, and cast a spell.

"Phantom Breath – Dark Fall!"

A bat appeared on top of Kelaino, opened its mouth, and started to release dark energy that is shaped in a cage. Swiftly, he cast another spell.

"Hell Drop!"

"Aisha, this is a super effective lock-down combination... it shouldn't be able to attack us!"

Another bat appeared with a ring of runes around it, and started to spew out round stones on Kelaino. Aisha quickly stole some mana from it, and started to hit it as many times as possible.

When both skills ended, Aisha teleported backwards to get the exact distance between them.

"Aging!"

The chained orb hit Kelaino on its shoulder, and the dark energy beam hit it fully; its speed is reduced tremendously... but just as they were about to damage it, it disappeared again suddenly.

"Is it the diving one again?" Aisha asked alertly.

"No..." Angkor squinted. "It dived after it disappeared _**upwards**_... but this time, it didn't go up."

A flash of movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Without thinking twice, she immediately filled her body with dark energy, which allows her to evade all attacks; she threw her body over Angkor's, protecting him from the unknown attack.

Kelaino quickly flew to the right, dropping wind bombs in the process; it then flew to the left again, dropping another round of wind bombs. Aisha looked around them... the sandy floor was full of craters, which disappeared immediately again as the sand filled it up. When it landed on the ground again, the effect of Aging is gone already. They retreated to the back to think of a plan.

Most of the students, after observing their encounter with Kelaino, had already moved forward to kill it.

"The only way is to poke at it..." Angkor frowned, "Attacking it and then retreating."

"I don't have anything that causes damage though; I'm more of a supportive type." He looked at Aisha, hoping she would think of some plan. "If we don't figure out something quickly, our score may be deducted immensely..."

"Angkor." She said firmly. "Do it."

"Do it?" He furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you even mea– "

Horror replaced the confusion that was in his eyes.

"What the heck are you thinking?!" He almost yelled. "There are hundreds of people there...!"

"It's not like they would really die." Aisha said lazily. "I'm going to get a bit closer."

She started to leave Angkor behind, and strolled closer and closer to the fighting mass.

"You... Aisha!" Angkor yelled at her back. "Are you serious?"

Her hesitation to walk closer to the battle field relieved him... until she kept on walking again.

"Aisha!"

She didn't turn her head.

"Angkor... _**do it**_."

Angkor bit his lip.

"Fine. But remember... this is your decision. _**Yours**_."

She said nothing, and kept walking.

"Here."

They stopped, and Aisha started to chant a spell. Angkor, seeing her start, began to do so too. Soon enough, a large amount of magical energy surrounded them. Waving her staff in a large circle, purple sparks of light followed it; a blinding white light blasted out, and a huge bat was summoned from the deepest depth of the Abyss.

Aisha jumped on the bat, and it began to suck in everything in its range - Kelaino, and the students. The energy gathered and spun faster and faster in front of its mouth until it turned into a violet color.

Faster... and faster.

And then...

It exploded, blasting a huge, plasma purple beam that has no ending to its range; smaller streams of energy split from the main one and circled around it.

When it ended, everything was gone...

Aisha landed off the bat, and smirked.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

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**Note**:

After a long break... school was harsh. x -x

But it ended, so I'll start updating more often, unless something comes up again.

* * *

**Reviews**:

\- _OMEGA ZX 420:_ Lol, thanks. I was a bit annoyed that day since writer's block was merciless... I regret it after I posted that comment. o -e

\- _PikaChibi_: Thanks! More ominous scenes will come up... but it will be with gore. /spoiler... /shot


	5. Chapter 4 - Escape

_**Chapter 4 - Escape**_

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His dusty, gray eyes widened with horror.

Her silvery, purple eyes smiled with cruelty.

For a while, only the sound of the howling wind was audible. The rest of the students who survived the attack either stood or sat on the ground, terrified and unable to move; the proctors looked at each other uneasily, unsure of what to do. They finally turned their gazes to the headmaster, assuming he would have a resolution.

Noticing that everyone is waiting for his response on this matter, he blinked a few times.

"Due to large amounts of students dying in this section of the test, we will move the spar to tomorrow. Everyone is dismissed today; you may go home now."

He then proceeded to walk into the hallway.

* * *

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

The footsteps grew louder and faster.

"Ashe!"

He frowned, and ignored it.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

"Ashe!"

He squeezed his eyes shut, and rubbed his right temple. What will come is clear to him... but he doesn't want to deal with it. He wants to find a quiet and large place with good lighting to think; the hallway is too narrow and dark... it is suffocating. He quickened his pace.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

Somebody grabbed his left shoulder and forcefully turned him around. He found himself looking at a pair of furious, red eyes.

"What the hell, Ashe?!" He shook his shoulder slightly but firmly. "What the hell?"

"... What's wrong, Elscud?" He asked quietly and unwillingly.

"What's wrong?!" his voice strained. "Are you being serious here, Ashe? Are you?!"

The pair of tired eyes looked straight into the pair of unsettled eyes; all of a sudden, he just couldn't be angry anymore.

Sighing heavily, Elscud looked down on the floor and slid his hand off of his shoulder, hanging it heavily on his right side.

"It's just that... if it were the usual you... you wouldn't just leave it like that..." His voice trailed off as he looked up into his eyes to confirm his theory.

Ashe looked away.

"Elscud... I need to think in solitude."

He took his avoidance of his question as a "Yes.".

"Not until I get this clear." He said insistently. "If you will give some kind of punishment to other people... why won't you give it to that girl? How is she different? Why are you giving her so many exemptions? Starting from letting her enroll in here despite of her young age in addition to her reluctance to have a partner to sparing her from penalties when she killed so many students without blinking an eye... She's dangerous! But you're doing nothing about her! Why...?"

"Elscud..."

"Don't avoid my question!" He raised his voice. "Why? Why, Ashe?!"

He looked at him troublesomely.

"Elscud..."

"Answer me, Ashe! Why? This is unfair to all the other students... and the sole reason that caused this is because of you! _**YOU!**_"

"You don't even know _**or**_ understand!" He finally lost his temper and shouted at him too. "Don't make any assumptions until you do!"

"Well, tell me then! _**Tell me**_!" His eyebrows furrowed; and he stared straight into the stormy eyes for an answer.

What he found took him aback.

The pair of stormy orbs suddenly calmed down and turned into a misty shade. They clearly said...

_There are some things even __**you**__ I cannot tell._

Elscud looked at his shadow helplessly as he turned and walked away.

* * *

Dinner today is, for once, tranquil.

None of the three red heads said one word; usually, Elsword and Elesis would bicker childishly, and at some point, Elscud would interfere and scold them, making them quiet but still shooting each other dirty looks.

Today... everyone is quiet; too quiet. Not one word, not one stare. The silence and the awkward atmosphere is slowly creeping her out... and she finally spoke.

"Is there anything wrong, dear?" Her voice cut the silence in two. The two children moved their attention from their plates to the two adults.

He sighed, put down his fork and knife, and shook his head.

"It's nothing, Penelope... it's nothing..." He then fell into his thoughts.

Elsword, swallowing his mouthful of food, smirked.

"It's about Ashe, isn't it?"

He glared at Elsword.

"How many times have I told you not to call him by his first name? It's disrespectful. He is known as "headmaster" to you."

He rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah. So it's about him, right?"

He glared at him again, and let go of the topic.

"Yeah... it's him..." His shoulders slumped a little bit as he said those words.

"Well, that's unusual for you to be upset about him. Is it because of that girl?"

He mentioned it offhandedly, and picked up his fork to eat another mouthful of food.

"He's being so irresponsible." Elesis suddenly quipped. "He should do something about it."

Elscud sat up straight.

"Listen..." He said with a serious tone. "I'm glad you guys didn't die there. Just remember... that girl is dangerous. Don't go near her."

"Hmm." Elsword replied, chewing on his food.

Elesis just nodded.

* * *

She reached the wooden front porch before her cottage. The wood creaked and thumped each time she heavily stomped on it as she dragged her tired legs upwards.

She leaned heavily on the door as she opened it, and she walked straight to the wooden counter, leaving Angkor behind to close the door.

She sat down on the wooden stool numbly, and she torpidly stared at the wall in front of her without blinking. The events that happened at school flashed through her mind over and over...

The sick purple energy...

And the screams... and their faces...

The blood-curdling screams... and their distorted expressions that were carved from intense pain as they were torn from limb to limb... until they were gone completely.

Tears formed in her eyes and circled in them. Her blurred vision suddenly became crystal clear as her eyes could not contain the heavy droplets anymore; the tears formed into streams and slid down her pale cheeks all the way down to her chin. They dripped onto the wooden counter, darkening it into a pattern of polka dots.

She couldn't stop.

She didn't want to think.

Her memories blurred and overlapped each other, past and present. The images... the sounds... the cruelty... they were all too familiar.

She didn't want to cry.

Her tears flowed down her face uncontrollably, dripping on the counter one after one, soaking it completely. She gasped heavily for air from time to time, half for the need for it, and half for the desire to calm herself down... but it wasn't working.

She didn't want to break down.

She curled into a ball on the stool, and grabbed her hair with both of her hands, unable to stop rocking back and forth.

_It's all because of me... __**ALL**__ because of __**ME**__... __**NOTHING**__ of __**THIS**__ would've happened..._

_Everyone would be here._

_**EVERYONE**__..._

_It's all because of __**ME**__._

_Why am __**I**__ living?! Why not __**OTHERS**__?!_

_Do I __**DESERVE**__ to __**LIVE**__?!_

_The __**BLOOD SHED**__... the __**MASSACRE**__... they could've been avoided..._

_But they weren't._

_Because of __**ME**__... because I was__** THERE**__... because I was __**BORN**__._

_Because I __**EXIST**__._

Angkor poked her side reluctantly, interrupting her chain of thoughts. She released her hair, and looked up at him with confused, watery eyes.

He looked at her – the creature with hair sticking out everywhere, a face smeared with tears that glistened under the dim light, and a nose with a slightly red tip - with pity in his eyes. He _**did**_ warn her.

He handed her a vial of potion that is three fourths full; a mixture of shimmering golden-red with streaks of silver and bronze... bubbles moved inside of the substance slowly.

"Lizard flame breath liquid mixed with toxic herb powder, purified with spirit tears to make it non-life threatening. I changed the formula a bit this time. Nevertheless... the effects are still gruesome."

Aisha reached her shaky hand out and took the vial; her hand shook so much that the potion almost spilled. Slowly, she brought it to her dry lips... unlike her slow movements before, she whipped her head backwards and drank the potion in one second.

The beautiful colors were lies. The moment it slid down her throat, it felt like her insides were burning... all the way from her mouth to her stomach. She gripped her arms tightly as if she were hugging herself and burst into tears again; not from her memories, but from the blazing pain in her body. It was as if she was being torn apart internally very slowly to intensify the agony.

She could only think of the physical torture.

Her vision was covered in blotches of red, orange, yellow, purple, blue, green, and black; all she could hear was a painfully high-pitched screeching noise. Every part of her went numb; she couldn't feel anything even if her nails dug into her skin so much that blood oozed out.

Her ears started buzzing, and her head felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

She didn't know when she passed out into the darkness.

* * *

**Note**: Seems like I'm going to still be busy...

But I'll still update as fast as I can.

* * *

**Reviews**:

_\- Naithea: _Your predictions scare me...

_\- Arrow-chan3: _OAO"?!


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